He said they should continiue to operate under the existing agreement, which means no renovation, no extra projects, just pay me the cash Mike foster agreed to until 2011 when the current deal runs out, although he said they will revisit after the season. It\'s better than the talk of moving that\'s for sure.

Here\'s the problem with this: not talking is usually bad in negotiations.

The State really doesn\'t have the money to pay the Saints under the Foster agreement. We\'ll see if the State can come up with the money to pay the team. If they default, the team can move. If the deal expires without a new one, the team can move (essentially it\'d be a free agent).

Here\'s the way I see it. Benson WILL NOT MOVE THE TEAM. His deal with N.O. is too good. Even after it expires, he\'s too cheap. San Antonion, LA, Portland - they\'re all possibilities, but none has a football stadium (except LA and the Colliseum is crap compared to the Dome. If the Dome isn\'t good enough, the Col. is crap.) Nor do they have practice facilities, a fan base, merchandising outlets, marketing, corporate sponsors, etc. The cost of moving can be huge to an NFL owner, and if Benson is too cheap to replace Haslett b/c it would cost him $6 million over two years, then there\'s no way he\'s going to spend the literally tens of millions to start over somewhere else.

Of course, Benson probably won\'t be behind the wheel too much longer, and THAT is scary. Once Benson leaves, if the Saints don\'t have a long-term deal with the State, that\'s when things could get hairy. Who knows what his granddaughter might do. That\'s assuming that he actually hands the reigns to her and doesn\'t sell the team. If he sells the team we\'re screwed. I doubt that there is anyone in Louisiana with the half BILLION dollars or so it will take to buy the team. That means outside ownership and that\'s when things get bad.

IMHO, the Saints aren\'t going anywhere in the next 4 or 5 years. But after that, if there\'s no long-term deal, I will be real worried about the prospect of the Saints staying in New Orleans.

but none has a football stadium (except LA and the Colliseum is crap compared to the Dome. If the Dome isn\'t good enough, the Col. is crap.)

Actually San Antonio has the Alamodome, which is pretty damn nice, and the fan base. But even though I live there, I still don\'t want the Saints to leave New Orleans. News about them not moving is still good to me, where they get the money to pay is up to them.

Pardon my ignorance, but I didn\'t think that the Alamo Dome was big enough to serve as an NFL stadium??? Am I wrong?

Also, does it have as many, more, less luxury boxes than the Super Dome??? I don\'t think Benson would move unless it was to a \"better\" stadium or to a place where a stadium was being built for the team.

They have been looking to put a football team there for years, and yes that do have more luxury suites then the Superdome. 4 Jumbotrons. A tailgate area. Like I said, it was built with the hopes of attracting a football team.

Though I couldn\'t find an exact seating figure, here is an article about the Alamo Bowl that is played there.

Alamo Bowl could set Alamodome attendance record
W. Scott Bailey

Ohio State may limp into San Antonio scarred by allegations from a former star running back and now the loss of its starting quarterback due to the violation of team and NCAA rules.

But the Buckeyes still have enough shine on their storied silver helmets that the 2004 MasterCard Alamo Bowl could set an all-time attendance record for the 65,000-seat Alamodome.

At press time, Alamo Bowl officials say fewer than 200 tickets remain for the Dec. 29 game featuring the Buckeyes and the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Alamo Bowl spokesman Rick Hill says those are mostly scattered singles seats.

Hill also says bowl officials requested and were granted permission to install enough additional seats for the game that capacity could surpass the 65,000 mark. That has happened only twice in the 11-year history of the game.

In 1999, 65,380 fans showed up to watch Penn State pummel Texas A&M 24-0. That remains the largest football crowd in Alamodome history. In 2001, a match-up of Iowa and Texas Tech drew 65,232 fans to the Alamo Bowl. And in 1995, 64,597 fans saw Texas A&M defeat Michigan 22-20 in a thriller.

This Alamo Bowl could top those attendance figures. And bowl officials point out that, unlike those other large crowds, this game does not feature a team from Texas.

\"It\'s a validation for the bowl and for San Antonio as a destination market,\" says Hill.